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Product Documentation

Help Browser Settings and Actions

Bookmark Favorite Pages

You can bookmark your favorite pages in the documentation and your favorite demos. In MATLAB, bookmarks are called favorites.

Use the Favorites menu to add, go to, and organize favorites

MATLAB saves favorite shortcuts, with special values for the callback and category that makes the shortcut go to a page in the Help browser. Therefore, when you save a favorite, do not change the Callback or Category.

Determine the Link to a Page

To direct someone else to a specific page in the documentation, you can send them a link to the page.

To get the link for a page (URL) shown in the Help browser:

  1. With the page displayed in the Help browser, select View > Page Location. The Help Page Location dialog box opens.

  2. Copy the link from one of the fields:

    • If the link is for someone with the same release of MATLAB, use the link to the Help browser.

    • If the link is for someone with a different release of MATLAB, or who does not have the product, use the link to the Web site. To view the page on the Web site, click Go. The documentation page that opens is for the release you are using.

For more information, see Product Documentation at the MathWorks Web Site.

Adjust the Help Browser Layout

By default the Help browser opens with the Help Navigator pane (the Contents and Search Results) on the left and the viewing pane on the right. If you make the Help browser window narrow, the Help Navigator pane moves above the viewing pane. This layout provides more space for displaying pages. Use this configuration when you want to reference the Help browser while working with a tool, for example, the Editor or figure windows. The Help browser uses a top-bottom layout when you dock it next to another tool in the desktop.

To provide more space for viewing a page in the Help browser, click the up arrows , located to the right of the search field. The Help Navigator pane closes.

To reopen the pane, click the down arrows that now display in the same location.

Filter by Product

By default, the Help browser and Function Browser show the documentation and demos for all installed MathWorks products. However, you can hide the documentation for any product if you have products you tend not to use or you want to locate relevant information more quickly. To specify the products that the Help browser and Function Browser display:

  1. Select File > Preferences > Help.

  2. Under Filter by Product, select the Selected products radio button.

  3. From the list of installed products, select the products you want the Help browser to include.

  4. Click OK.

Run Demos

Go to the product demo page by browsing the Contents pane of the Help browser, or by calling the demo function.

To run a MATLAB code demo in the Command Window:

  1. Click Run in the Command Window.

  2. Scroll up in the Command Window to see the start of the instructions.

  3. Follow the instructions.

To run a MATLAB code demo section-by-section:

  1. Display the demo in the Help browser.

  2. On the demo page, click Open filename in the Editor.

  3. In the Editor, select Cell > Evaluate Current Cell and Advance.

To run a MATLAB code demo from start to finish:

  1. Click Open filename in Editor. For example, with the MATLAB > Demos > Graphics > Square from Sine Waves demo displayed, click Open xfourier.m in the Editor. xfourier.m is the name of the demo file.

  2. With the file open in the Editor, click Run .

Access English Documentation on Japanese Systems

Many MathWorks products provide documentation translated into Japanese. The translated documentation is usually one release behind the product. However, the Help browser can also access the English documentation for the release you are using. To read documentation for the current version in English, use the Language panel in the Help Preferences dialog to switch from Japanese to English. You can toggle the preference setting, enabling you to revert to Japanese at any time. The option changes the language used in the Help browser and for GUI context-sensitive help, but it does not affect the language appearing in menus or elsewhere in products. For example, the help command still provides help in Japanese, even after you switch the Help browser to English. For more information, see Obtaining Documentation in Different Languages.

Customize Help Browser Fonts and Colors

You set font characteristics and colors for the Help browser as you do for other desktop tools, with some exceptions. Some settings apply to text, others to code, and font styles apply only in the Help Navigator.

By default, the pane for Contents and Search Results uses the desktop text font. You can change the font family, style (bold or italic), and size. You cannot specify text, background, or hyperlink colors for the Help browser display pane.

The font for Help browser display pane is specified by the HTML Proportional Text setting in the MATLAB Fonts Custom Preferences dialog box. By default, HTML Proportional Text tools use a custom font (Sans Serif, 10 pt.). You can change these settings, but not all changes you make affect the display pane in the Help browser:

For related information, see Fonts and Color Settings.

Preferences for Help Windows, Search History, and PDF Readers

Specifying Where Help from the Editor and Function Browser Displays

By default, MATLAB displays the reference page in a small window when you:

To display the reference page in the Help browser:

  1. Select File > Preferences > Help.

  2. For Help on Selection and More Help, select In Help browser.

This preference does not apply when you get help for a selected function from the Current Folder browser or Help browser. Then, the reference page opens in the Help browser.

Specifying a Search History Limit

Your search history is a list of terms that you have used when searching in the Help browser. MATLAB maintains this list for your current and previous sessions. By default, your 500 most recently used terms are available to you via a drop-down list under the Help Navigator search field. To change the limit for the number of items in your search history , go to File > Preferences > Help and, in the Number of most recent search terms to save field, enter or select the number you want . You can erase your entire search history by clicking the Clear History button. The following illustration shows these controls.

Specifying the PDF Reader Location — UNIX Platforms Only

To display the PDF version of the documentation, the Help browser needs to locate the PDF reader on your system. For example, the Adobe® Acrobat® product is a PDF reader that many people use on a variety of platforms.

On Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh platforms, MATLAB obtains the PDF reader location from the operating system.

On UNIX platforms, the default PDF reader is Acrobat® and MATLAB automatically determines its location, if it exists. To use a different PDF reader:

  1. Select File > Preferences > Help.

  2. For PDF reader, enter the full path to the application.

  3. Click OK.

  


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